The suit looks pretty standard and comics-accurate (right down to those ridiculous shin guards), but photos from a specific action-heavy scene show him wearing some kind of high-tech shield over his chest—and his House of El coat of arms:

It's unclear what it would be meant for, although it looks somewhat like the contraption Barry Allen wore on The Flash while he was jumping dimensions and such. In this case, it looks like he's wearing it to repel some kind of metahuman power, since he's wearing it when he fights a mysterious villain:

We don't know anything about this villain, other than the fact that he seems to have a glowing green light on his chest. It could be a metahuman version of Metallo, or an original villain. Either way, Hoechlin seems to embody the role well, and certainly seems to have the superhuman aspect of the character down. Hopefully he'll be just as suited to play Clark Kent, although since he presumably comes to help Kara, his Superman persona might come into play more.

Supergirl returns for season two on October 10 on The CW. Tyler Hoechlin will appear as Superman for two episodes at the beginning of the season.